Skip to main content

tv   Piers Morgan Live  CNN  August 13, 2013 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT

6:00 pm
edition of 360. piers morgan starts now. this is piers morgan live. welcome to the viewers in the united states and around the world. tonight breaking news, cnn learned code word s intercepted al qaeda communications, sparked fears of an imminent attack and closed embassies. more on that in a moment. inside the rescue of hanna anderson. dramatic details searchers knew they had james dimaggio, her kidnapper, in their sights. >> because they were spotted so quickly, everyone was taking off guard. we were trenching ourselves for a long, drawn out search. >> i'll talk live to the man who rescued hanna and new questions about james dimaggio himself. ed smart, how his daughter elizabeth survived kidnapping when 14 years old and his advice and the man that says more guns
6:01 pm
equals less crime. you know how i feel. i'm sure we'll have a lively debate when i go head-to-head with aw hawkins, gun sales have been rockets in new town where the sandy hook massacre took place. he's on the grill tonight. and why the daily show owes me 10 grand. >> we would like to personally offer $10,000 in reward to anyone who can bring me footage of piers morgan falling off the segway. >> guess what? i have that footage and you, mr. oliver, will owe me $10,000. intercepted al qaeda communications sparked the closures of u.s. embassies. the code words in those communications pointed to a likely imminent attack. joining me now with much more is cnn national security analyst fred townson, barbara starr who
6:02 pm
broke the story. barbara, tell me what you discovered. >> well, piers, in talking to someone who has a very immediate understanding of what transpired, they told me that these messages, these intercepted al qaeda messages by the u.s. intelligence community contained essentially code words, which the intelligence community interpreted correctly, it appears, as being a coded message among al qaeda oftives for signaling a potentially imminent attack. it was those code words, piers, that sparked the warning to close some 22 embassies and consulates because the u.s. had direct -- direct sense, a direct knowledge that the code words pointed to imminent, an imminent attack. what they didn't have was a good understanding at the time of exactly where and when, therefore, they had to close all embassies in the areas of
6:03 pm
greatest concern and as we know in recent days, it's really focused on yemen and we've seen a number of cia drone attacks in yemen killing about two dozen suspected al qaeda oftives in recent days. piers? >> so do they believe, barbara, they stopped this imminent attack in the sense that nothing happened? do you think they were on top of this and managed to stop something from happening? >> i think their feel ing is look, first they had to put it public because they were closing so many u.s. embassies. it was going to become public across the world. so that clearly, they believe, perhaps spooked al qaeda, especially al qaeda in yemen and made them back away from an attack. doesn't mean we're told that the u.s. knew -- yemen security forces aren't going after alibi da anyhow, but they do feel they pushed off the imminence of it for now. >> barbara starr, thank you very
6:04 pm
much indeed. let me bring in fran townson. significant that the significance intelligence can get to the heart of the top members of al qaeda here. what is the significant do you think of this? >> piers, i think it can't be under stated. not only do they intercept communications but understanding what it is you're listening to. you learn what the code words are from people you capture, from surveillance from your foreign allies, and then what you're able to do is search through. it's the needle in the haystack, finding communications that are the most significant. what i think it says, piers, is that the u.s. intelligence community working with allies around the world is far more sophisticated than it was prior to 9/11. we know prior to 9/11 al qaeda use add very complicated set of codes that we didn't understand, even if -- even to the extent we were able to do interceptions and now, you know, more than a decade later, we've got an
6:05 pm
intelligence system that collects it, analyzes it, and can act on it a way we didn't ten years ago. >> bob, obviously in the short term you would say it's successful but had they dealt with that intelligence in the right way but effectively blowing the cover, if you'd like, on this infiltration, have they perhaps caused a bigger problem going forward? >> no, piers. they have to. they have -- they have to put this out that have to put it out in public because if an attack did occur and they didn't say anything and a lot of people lost their lives, the political downside would be enormous. they have to expose themselves when they believe there is an imminent threat. i believe they did the right thing. the problems with the codes is they are substitution codes. they can change every day. you know, tuesday will become wednesday and vice versa the following week. the horribly frustrating to
6:06 pm
figure out. i faced them and i was absolutely sure an attack was coming and recorded and it turned out to not have happened and occurred a year later. >> fred townson, does this mean al qaeda is alive and well and dangerous as ever? >> oh, i think it's clear that al qaeda is not on the run, right? so you got al qaeda in the name of him as the leader communicating to yemen, the head of the yemen al qaeda group and we know from barbara starr's reporting that they are communicating and planning an imminent attack. so look, we shouldn't under estimate, they still have operational capability. they haven't been able to launch a successful attack because of our ability to thort them. >> thank you. turn to details of the raid that freed hanna anderson from her captor. joining me now is steve german
6:07 pm
whose team rescued hanna. this is a dramatic rescue and extremely successful one. tell me from your perspective how it all went down. >> well, piers, it's nice to be here, thank you. friday we received a tip from the horseback rides that seen hanna and dimaggio and a cat. the cat made them think they were odd in the back country with a cat. it was one -- it was actually the 200th tip that we had followed up on. we were chasing tips all over the country. and then it became really significant when a state trooper with the idaho state police found the vehicle. at that point we dedicated all resources to the fugitive investigation in idaho. myself, the case agent with the united states marshall service and u.s. marshals pilot bored a
6:08 pm
small surveillance plane here and we immediately went to idaho. we got briefed up that night -- >> i'm sorry, continue. >> yeah, we got briefed up that night, and the next morning we had an all-hands briefing at the command post set up in cascade, idaho. to give you an idea of the e norty of the operation, cascade was two miles -- or two-hour drive away from the trail head where the car was found. and then their last sighting was another eight mile hike into the wilderness. it was very rugged, remote location. once we got an idea of the e norty of that situation, myself and a supervisor, u.s. deputy u.s. marshal from idaho and the pilot bored that small aircraft and we decided to take an aerial surveillance look at what we
6:09 pm
were looking at. >> we actually have a picture -- i want to -- i want to -- while you said that, i want to show a picture you took, i believe, from the aircraft that showed the immediate vicinity of where it looked like they were located. tell me about this. >> yeah, you can see that it's not a very large lake. it's probably the size of maybe an olympic pool. it's a small little mountain lake and covered by probably three sides of sheer cliff. they were located at the north end of that lake, about 900 of your picture in a small blue tent. we had intel a small blue tent was in the area, wasn't 100% confirmed whether a blue tent was part of the dimaggio's camp or not but able to confirm later on through continuous fly overs, a male, blaond headed female an
6:10 pm
the small animal, which was a cat and we knew we had something. >> i know you can't talk about the fbi specifics but you called in the hostage team and the rest that made a successful rescue. without the work that you and your men have done before that would have been a much harder job. congratulations to you, marshall and your team and thank you for joining me. >> thank you. appreciate it. coming up next, i want to bring in a man that has information about suspect james dimaggio almost every day. he is a friend of him and therapist and ceo of the clean treatment center and ed smart, elizabeth smart snatched from her bed and found nine months later and tonight joins me via skype. andr andrew, i'll talk to you first. we talked regularly in the last week. what information do you have? i know you've been talking to dimaggio's only surviving
6:11 pm
sibling, laura. >> today has been a rough day. the body has been transported and will be cremated. she will have it cremated so there won't be a grave site where people can cause a disturbance or what not. she's taken hair samples. she's interested in getting a toc college report to see if he was using a meth or drugs with the working thesis that brought on this horrible tragedy. >> let me bring in ed smart, if i may. you're one of the few people, i guess, in america who knows exactly how brett, hanna's father has been feeling in the last week. obviously, a very happy ending to this, as indeed, it was in your case, but tell me how you feel about what he's going through and what add voice you would give them as a family going forward? >> well, you know, you're on this roller coaster certainly with the death of his wife and
6:12 pm
son that had to be, i would almost say catastrophic, and then to not know whether your daughter was still alive or not for a period of time, you know, we had that roller coaster effect emotionally that, you know, we would hear that a body had been found or a burned body or bones or, you know, any type of scenario out there, and certainly, that that puts you on an emotional roller coaster to get the word that your child is still alive is, you know, there is no other word than miracle that comes to mind, and certainly, a wonderful day in the midst on a total night mare. we haven't heard how dimaggio
6:13 pm
may have manipulated her. fortunately, you know, he's no longer around for her sake, and i'm hoping that with time, you know, she'll be able to pick up and move forward and, you know, to me, i think one of the most important things is that they remain private and they -- you know, they don't go out into public or do media requests at this point because i think, you know, it takes settling down and certainly in their scenario where, you know, they have lost two family members, you know, that's going to be incredibly difficult and i think privacy and being able to find that new normal is something that is very important in, you know, certainly for both of them to, you know, reconnect and be able to have that privacy is very important. >> ed smart, thank you for joining me and andrew, as
6:14 pm
always, you've been extremely useful in getting to understand some of the motivation perhaps behind what james dimaggio did and i'm grateful to you both for joining me. a man that believes more guns equals less crime. also ahead, a sinkhole that followed a florida resort. a mother that barely escaped with her young son and a hero rescuer. >> you could see the building come apart and react and get people out. you don't think, you just do it. hey love.
6:15 pm
6:16 pm
[off screen] there you are. [speaking german] hi, grandpa! [off screen] give me a kiss! [speaking mandarin] what do you think? do you like it? [off screen] happy birthday! can you see that? [speaking polish] [off screen] did he apologize? [off screen] thanks, micah! [off screen] bye, guys. bye. see ya. oh my god! every day, more people connect face to face on the iphone than any other phone.
6:17 pm
i miss you. breaking news tonight in a hostage situation in louisiana.
6:18 pm
three people are being held at gunpoint in a bank in st. joseph. negotiators and police are outside. nobody is believed to be injured and the hostage holder is believed to be a convenience store owner. what is the latest on the sisuati situation down there? >> we're in negotiation stages with the individual that's in the bank. there are some demands that he have asked for and had negotiators from the federal level and state level talking with him at this time. we're just trying to work through this at this point. >> and do you believe that he is heavily armed? >> well, we do understand that he is armed. as to what degree, you know, we really have no way of knowing at this point. we don't want to speculate. but we have reason to believe
6:19 pm
so. >> well chief, we wish you the best. we'll bring any viewers updates when we have them through this hour. thank you very much indeed for joining me. eight months after the massacre in new town, 90 thousand guns authorized for sale. a man that couldn't disagree with me more. he believes more guns equal less crime. hawkins, news contributor and hh phd. thank you for joining me -- >> great to be with you. >> this situation in new town, isn't it concerning in the very place we saw this horrendous massacre that we see such a spike in gun sale sns. >> i'm attracted to the stories on gun sales as in virginia and other states you mentioned because they demonstrate more guns equal less crime and i
6:20 pm
think it's important that we understand that when you or president obama or whoever supports forcibly disarming the american citizenry, we make the vulnerable more vulnerable. we make the weak or prone to attack more prone to attack and that's especially true of women. piers, that's what is on my mind when i think about the fact when we take guns away woman hen cannot defend themselves. gun control will not fix this. gun control never makes the vulnerable less, it makes them more vulnerable. for me, i want to see not just men but women defend their lives with guns as needed and that means they need access to them as they have access to them, we see more guns less crime. >> how do you explain then that so many other countries that brought in tough gun control have seen gun crime dramatically reduced? i'm thinking of great britain. australia. japan, germany, i mean, there are dozens of countries that have gone the complete opposite
6:21 pm
way from america and seen a dramatic reduction in the gun murder rate. >> that's a great question. let me tell you the story and i can answer that. the story is fast. the first week in january, a woman in georgia the man was breaking in. she grabbed the kids, she went into the attic. he went into the house and kicked the attic door. she's on the cell phone piers and her husband is going shoot him. she shot him five times. she didn't kill him but stopped the attack. what i would ask you, priest, respectively what i would ask you is i would like my wife to be arm in that situation, would you like your wife to be armed in that position? >> why don't we take a woman in this position, a woman that armed herself to the teeth, as it turned out, exactly in the way you talked about, she bought six guns, including an ar assault rifle in her home
6:22 pm
specifically to protect herself as you put it, from other people with guns. her son that had severe mental issues, clearly, adam lanza was going to steal the guns, walk up to her bedroom, shoot her dead in the head and go to the local elementary school and shoot teachers and students. so your argument in that case looks ridiculous. >> it doesn't, piers, because the situation i quoted to you was real just as the situation you quoted to me. what we have to understand, gun control is ultimately a war on women, piers. that's a true statement. it makes women prone to attack more prone to attack and frequent attack. they have no way to defend themselves. let's go across the pond to your country. you touched on it earlier. if i go across the pond and look at england and wails. for every 100,000 people there is 175 violent crimes that includes sexual assault.
6:23 pm
those are crimes against women. if you look at those same numbers in america for every 100,000, there are 383 violent crimes, that's less than 50% on what we see across the pond, piers. what's the difference? here women can shoot back. you chase them into an at tack they will shoot at you to protect their lives and the lives of their children. my opinion and i bet you share this opinion with me. my opinion is those women should be able to arm themselves and defend their lives and bodies. >> yeah, my problem is i don't want to see all the women in america armed with guns. where there are guns, as we know, in domestic environment in homes there is a much higher incidence of suicide, domestic violence and so on. it has the compete opposite effect. on the comparison you have drawn between great brit and america, how do you explain this fact, that in britain we have on average 35 gun murders a year
6:24 pm
and very, very tough gun control including a ban on handguns and all assault weapons and in america we have very lax gun control, you have 12,000 gun murders a year. how does that work in your what were -- wharped twisted logic? >> in virginia there was a 16% increase in gun sales in 2012. that's 490,119 guns were sold. you would expect the way you speak, piers, for violent crime to rise proportionally. it fell 5%. there was violence crime that includes those -- >> which has the -- >> women -- which has the -- >> which state has the highest murder rate in the country, according to the fbi? do you know. >>? >> no, i haven't looked at those stats. >> allow me to help you. allow me to help you -- >> [ overlapping speakers ] >> no, because here is the
6:25 pm
point, it's virginia, the very state you just quoted to me actually has -- >> the good news -- >> according to 200 -- >> the good news -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> the good news is that murder rate went down because they had more guns and resulted in a 5% decrease in violent crime. you look at a state with gun control, look at illinois but particularly chicago n. 2010 there were assaults and 441 murders. i know this matters to you. 10% of those murders were women. 10% of those victims. i would prefer that those 44 women had guns to defend their lives. in 2012 it was 512 murders, 51 of those persons approximately were women. i would prefer those women have guns to protect their lives, piers. gun control is a war on women and it's a war we need to quite fighting. >> yeah, i would tell that to the families of the women killed
6:26 pm
at sandy hook. i'm not sure they would see it the same way. mr. hawkins, thank you very much indeed for joining me. >> thank you, piers, appreciate it. breaking news out of new jersey tonight, corey booker won that state for the senate. he faces the republican steve and the election is october. more on that next with marc lamont hill. breaking the news wide open and these two really do go at it. like snarling tigers. la's known definitely for its traffic,
6:27 pm
congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment.
6:28 pm
6:29 pm
6:30 pm
>> an update on breaking news, corey booker won the primary in new jersey tonight and will face the special election in october. because of a rising star for the party breaking the news with marc lamont hill and the co-host of cross fire. welcome to you both. >> good to be here. >> thank you. >> i would be worried about this. corey booker to me as been one of the most impressive politicians in america for the last few years and now, racing to the senate. >> yeah, i'm not going to disagree with you. i know corey booker. i spent a lot of time with him. he's an impressive guy not only is he char ris mat tick and smart, most importantly, he's disciplined. i wish we had 100 of them on the republican side. i disagree on a lot of policies, but believe me, that combination of charisma and discipline is something that every politician should aspire to and should take notes from corey booker.
6:31 pm
>> i agree. mark la month hill. >> i agree as well. corey is the real deal. he's a strong advocate and puts an injection of youth into the new jersey senate seat. he's a good vision and the other thing he's not bit early partisan. so many are committed to marking lines in the sand and not crossing party lines. i think he's a rising star and that's why chris christie made sure there would be a special election, rather than a normal election because he didn't want the corey booker energy into the voting booth and driving down the land slide. i think it's a sign he's a f future star. >> could he be fast tracked to become a democratic presidential nominee for 2016? >> it not unthinkable. >> yes, it is. >> i don't think. so if you how quickly the democratic machine seized on barack obama, then a senator with very little experience and
6:32 pm
reason to reason for a president, it's not i'm probable the democratic machine would seize on a popular senator, if in fact he becomes one. like i said, discipline in audition to corey booker's charisma, discipline will get him ahead in new jersey and the senate. >> i think long-term he could certainly be a presidential candidate. i don't think the democratic party will push him in front of hillary clinton. i don't see that remotely possible -- >> they did it once, marc. >> because the lane was wide open. the clintons are well-posted to defend the seat and i don't think america is no, ma'amimina black guys in a row. >> it may reside on the fact he was born in canada. what do we make of this? >> the atlantic had a piece recently and debunked this. ted cruise can run for president. his childhood in calgary will
6:33 pm
not stop him. fy were a democrat or republican looking to oppose him, there is other stuff you can go to on ted cruise. i'm a fan of him. i don't know if we need to make his childhood in calgary our center of disagreement with ted cruise. he's eligible to run. we should leave that kind of -- >> i want to see a birth certificate. >> the fbi, congressional scholars will find that out. it's hard to hide something that big as eligibility as president. republicans and democrats to a lesser extent should stay out of the business of raising those questions. they don't serve the purpose. >> okay. let's move on to an issue that's getting heat at the moment and understandably, stop and frisk. i heard both of you on the airways talking about this coming from different positions. what is your view of stop and frisk? >> i don't believe that fairness should be a motivating factor
6:34 pm
for law enforcement. i don't think satisfying silly sensitive liberal pieties and poll kit lil correctness should be in law enforcement so if ray kelly is telling me that stop and frisk is an effective policy in new york, i like to believe them. that doesn't mean we ask tough questions about the policy and program. doesn't mean we don't gauge it over time but if they are telling me it's a useful law tool than i want to believe them, and that's the only question i have to ask. >> i am stunned in the last 24 hours how many republicans told me we can't trust the government or take the government on face value with constitutional protections announcing if the government says it, i believe it. that's not true. >> not the government, marc, new york city law enforcement who deal with this every single day on the ground. not a bureaucracy from up high telling every locality what to
6:35 pm
do. >> the major telling them what to do. we can track it over time bu because we have data. very few stop and frisk incidents result in finding a gun. very few result in finding anyone guilty and when they are guilty, they are guilty in carrying marijuana, which doesn't lead to broader crimes. the argument here is there a way to imp mtd stop and frisk that doesn't violate the fourth and 14th amendments yes, you don't stop every black person on the street. >> so you want law enforcement officials to stop white people because that's a great use of law enforcement's time and resources. >> you just except that's not what i said. they should go to high-crime locations and have reasonable cause. being black and outside is not probable cause and reasonable suspicion. they find guns .02% of the
6:36 pm
time. i wish i could say that to my friend from virginia if you look the crime stops, they don't have stop and frisk. 49% in new orleans. we could look at dallas and see 46%. the numbers are dropping where we don't have stop and frisk. we can't pretend -- >> chicago. >> if you look at chicago there is a variety of factors including stream of guns, lack of employment, factors that lead to chicago, chicago isn't existing because of a lack of stop and frisk. we need sensible policing and strong communicate police relationships and don't have it if every person in the neighborhood is afraid of the police because they get stopped and frisked every day. >> we have a short break and will come back and talk about oprah winfrey and race. has she sat the cat among the pigeons here? i think she may have done.
6:37 pm
6:38 pm
♪ you're not made of money, so don't overpay for boat insurance. geico, see how much you could save.
6:39 pm
6:40 pm
oprah was shopping in wizzer
6:41 pm
la -- switzerland recently and a clerk refused to show her a $38,000 purse because she didn't think oprah could afford it. to prove a point, oprah bought switzerland. >> o'bryan having fun with that. a store in switzerland refused to show it to her. back with the news mark la month hill. >> i think that incident in switzerland was just an incident in switzerland. i'm really sorry it got blown up. i didn't mention the name of the store on purposely. it's not an indictment on the country but one person that didn't want to offer me the opportunity to see the bag. no apologies necessary from the country of switzerland. >> mark la month hill, i mean, obviously, oprah is out there
6:42 pm
promoting this new movie the butler she's in. i haven't seen it yet. she may be putting out these stories to get publicity. i don't think that's how oprah works but who what do you think? >> they are upset because it's opera. racism exists in swisser land and doesn't apologize for every reported case. oprah is a big star and made a big stink, so they are responding to it. i don't think oprah made the story up. i don't know a black person that hasn't had that experience. i've had that experience multiple times because they don't show me an item because they don't think i can afford it. one time a store said i won't get the suit for you. you can't afford it and won't buy it. oh p oprah is a peacemaker and wants to make people comfortable and didn't want to alienate her fan
6:43 pm
base, which is a lot of white. >> too late. such a massive level of influence, i have nowhere near the level of influence but if i go on twitter and complain about something, people will notice. she went on national television and injected what she saw as racism into motivation for what happened in switzerland. i wasn't there. i don't know what happened. but i think was that a pretty significant heavy charge to levee and reckless. of course it would spark national debate and get switzerland's attention. oprah against an anonymous switzerland shop owner. >> really? >> really. >> i'm shocked you feel sorry for the potentially racist -- >> you weren't there either, marc. >> it's potentially racist because oprah said it was, it may not have been.
6:44 pm
i have no reason to doubt -- this isn't like someone who deals in race every day on the public stage or decides to tell a story. oprah goes out of her way to avoid race talk. >> it must be true. >> i'm inclineed to agree with her. >> so are a lot of people. that's the problem. she should be careful about the claims -- >> so if she experienced something and felt it was race-based what should she do instead of talking about it? ? clearly, she didn't want to talk about it. she's backtracking now. she wanted to have a debate she would be debating it. she is not. >> the question was what should she have done differently? what should she have done instead of talking about it? >> nobody asked her to talk about it. she's brought it up as an example -- >> right, so she was asked about it. she was asked have you dealt with racism. >> she chose to bring that incident up. >> keep -- >> [ overlapping speakers ] >> she absolutely had a right to remain silent but instead she
6:45 pm
talked about an incident. >> and now backtracking it. she should go all out and have that conversation, mark. >> we'll collectively encourage oprah to talk about race more and talk about this incident in great eer detail. >> she's welcome to. i think she knows how far her reach and influence is -- >> i'm personally coming down with oprah here. i'm on her side. >> smart move. >> good choice. >> what we can all agree on, though, surely, the big loser is the store -- >> yeah. >> that could make an easy sale of a $38,000 bag in the history of bag sales. do we agree? >> and defending itself on charges of racism. >> if she wanted to crush the store, she could say the name of the store. >> they found the store, marc. >> she deliberately didn't do it. >> i like your pairing. it's animated. slow start, warmed up and wow.
6:46 pm
let's get you two back again soon. >> we've known each other a long time. >> long time. old friends. >> a lot of friction there. won't ask too many questions. thank you both for joining me. next, the sinkhole survivor, if you think the images are incredible from florida, wait until you hear one mother's story how she got out alive. she joins me with the man many consider a hero for saving lives. ctor running late for a medical convention loses his computer, exposing thousands of patient records to identity theft. data breaches can happen that easily. we don't believe you should be a victim of someone else's mistake. we're lifelock. we constantly monitor the web so if any of your personal information is misused, we're on it. ♪ ow. [ male announcer ] call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today.
6:47 pm
♪ never loved ♪ [ sighs ] ♪ ♪ have you ever, think
6:48 pm
♪ ooohhhh, oh, oohh ♪ ♪ perfect work of art ♪ i knew right from the start ♪ i was sent here for you ♪ we were made to love [ male announcer ] the all-new 2014 chevrolet impala. made to love. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ all aboard. we've been bringing people together. today, we'd like people to come together on something that concerns all of us. obesity. and as the nation's leading beverage company, we can play an important role. that includes continually providing more options. giving people easy ways to help make informed choices.
6:49 pm
and offering portion controlled versions of our most popular drinks. it also means working with our industry to voluntarily change what's offered in schools. but beating obesity will take continued action by all of us, based on one simple common sense fact... all calories count. and if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you'll gain weight. that goes for coca-cola, and everything else with calories. finding a solution will take all of us. but at coca-cola, we know when people come together, good things happen. to learn more, visit coke.com/comingtogether
6:50 pm
where is the patient located? >> it's not a patient. we have a building that's potentially collapsing. >> that's a 911 call. part of a resort near walt disney world. it formed under two buildings, both of which have been destroyed. maggie joins me now along with her son. also with me is richard commandly, the resort security guard who is being held by many as a hero. good to have you with us. i can see your son doesn't want to be with us tonight. >> that's correct. he likes to be independent like mom.
6:51 pm
>> let him run around, that's okay. tell us what is like being in the middle of a sinkhole. >> absolutely terrifying and surreal. the thoughts that go through your mind are everything unknown. there is no way to be prepared for a sinkhole experience or having a building collapsing around you in any type of situation. it's something i never imagined i would experience. >> and how important was the man standing to your left, richard comma chandly? >> he's absolutely a hero. i watched him single handedly make his way up into every room up and down the stairs. i was across the street videotaping as those events occurred. we watched him as he accounted for everybody in the room. he absolutely is a hero.
6:52 pm
i'm very thankful to him. >> richard, it was obviously a devastating thing to happen. how did you keep so calm and help so many people? >> i just let instinct take over. i had to get the guest out first. they were the top priority. i cared about my safety but not as much as the guests. they were here on vacation. nobody could face what was to come at that time. and you do what you have to do. they're your first priority. this property is your priority. you take care of it and do what you have to do. >> i mean, you say you do what you have to do, but people were scrambling around. it was incredibly dangerous and you went beyond the call of duty. did you feel at the time that you yourself may not get out of this alive? >> no, sir, i didn't think about that. like i said, my first image of the building is yes, it's coming down. but i also -- the first priority was to make sure all the guests
6:53 pm
were out, going room to room, waking people up from a dead sleep is not something i would have expected to do. i had people asking me if they were being evicted from the building. i said no, the building is collapsing. they were not expecting this at all. it was an unexpected turn of events that took place. if i had to do it all over again, i would do it. it was just instinct took over and you act first and think later. >> good for you. maggie, i'm delighted that you and your family were able to get away alive. thank you both for joining me. and richard, thank you for your heroism for what was a dangerous evening. a lot of people owe you gratitude. thank you both for joining me. >> thank you, piers. >> thank you very kindly. coming up next, we'll find out why you owe me $10,000, john oliver. >> i would like to personally offer $10,000 in reward to
6:54 pm
anyone who can bring me footage of piers morgan falling off that segue.
6:55 pm
i don'without goingcisions to angie's list first. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic! find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. a quarter million tweeters is beare tweeting. and 900 million dollars are changing hands online. that's why hp built a new kind of server. one that's 80% smaller. uses 89% less energy. and costs 77% less. it's called hp moonshot. and it's giving the internet the room it needs to grow. this&is gonna be big. hp moonshot.
6:56 pm
it's time to build a better enterprise. together.
6:57 pm
dr. sanjay gupta's special on marijuana was a huge success on sunday night. among the viewers was john oliver, currently standing in upon jon stewart.
6:58 pm
it seemed he was a lot more interested in another subject, me. and a certain piece of video. watch this. >> i have to give cnn credit where it's sue. dr. sanjay gupta, the weed special answered the most pressing questions about the legitimate questions about medical marijuana. and answered the question, what is piers morgan like when he's high. >> a shocking revelation here, i've tried cannibus when i was a younger lad and i had to have some vicodin when i fell off a segue. and it was the vicodin which gave me a massively higher high than the canibus ever did. >> i have offer $10,000 of anyone that can bring me footage
6:59 pm
of piers morgan falling off that segue. neither vicodin or marijuana could bring anyone as much joy as that videotape. >> mock all you want, but your punch line did carry a bonbaifid offer for anyone that can produce that video. i have the video, it's real and right here. watch this. >> sit back. sit back. >> satisfied, john? i hope you are, because that was as painful as it looked. $10,000 worth of pain for you now. i assume the money will be delivered by tomorrow. that's all for us tonight. anderson cooper starts right now.
7:00 pm
good evening, everyone. it is 10:00 here on the east coast. we have a hostage situation playing out in a bank in louisiana. first, though, late new word on the intercepted al qaeda messages that sparked the closings of 19 emba sis around the world. a source telling cnn's barbara starr that u.s. code breakers recognized a number of specific words that signalled the attack. three intercepts got their attention. the first was from the leader of the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula group. the second said to be a response from al qaeda leader iman al zawhira. a u.s. official declined to discuss specific code words, but told cnn "there was a sense of

127 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on